In computer networks, certain protocols can be used to allow a network node to reserve network resources. Two Internet protocols which may be used for reserving bandwidth are the Resource Reservation Protocol (RSVP), which is described in the Internet standard, "Resource Reservation Protocol (RSVP)--Version 1 Functional Specification," May 6, 1996 (current draft), and the experimental Internet stream protocol "ST II," which is described in the following Internet requests for comment (RFCs): C. Topolcic, "Experimental Internet Stream Protocol, Version 2 (ST-II)," Oct. 30, 1990, and L. Delgrossi et al., "Internet Stream Protocol Version 2 (ST2) Protocol Specification--Version ST2+", Aug. 11, 1995. These protocols generally define peer-to-peer message exchanges for reserving bandwidth among hosts and between hosts and network routers.
In the case of RSVP, each host generally implements the full range of RSVP messages. However, there are occasions when it may be desirable to use a third host (i.e., a proxy) to make bandwidth requests on behalf of a sending or receiving host. For example, because resource reservation can be expensive, it may be desirable to place such functions under the control of a particular enterprise. In campus internet environments (e.g., intranets), especially those including local area networks (LANs), it may be desirable to control resource reservation requests from a systems-management node. In addition, legacy hosts may not be configured to run the bandwidth reservation protocol, and certain hosts may not easily run multiple network applications concurrently. Third-party control may also be desirable when a user is to be charged for a service, as in the case of electronic transactions, teleconferencing, remote presentation, and multimedia broadcast applications. Hence, what is needed is a technique for implementing proxy control of certain messages on a network, such as resource reservation messages.
Note that some network applications may require multicast routing. Further, it is desirable that third-party controlling reservations be transparent to other hosts in the network. Therefore, what is further needed is a technique which allows a proxy controlling resource reservations to be placed at any point in a network while remaining transparent to other hosts, and which allows multicast routing of reservation messages.